------Original Message------ From: "Frosty" <frosty@frostys.qc.ca> To: "EasterDoor" <easterndoor@axess.com>, <frostysamerindian@egroups.com> Sent: November 25, 2000 6:40:46 PM GMT Subject: [frostysamerindian] U.S. Judge Refuses to Return Activist to Canada Yahoo! Canada News Top Stories Thursday November 23 7:36 PM ET U.S. Judge Refuses to Return Activist to Canada By Allan Dowd VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Canada is reviewing a U.S. court ruling that likened the struggle for aboriginal rights in Canada to international separatists movements such as those in Northern Ireland, a Canadian official said on Thursday. The ruling was handed down earlier this month by a U.S. federal judge in Portland, Oregon, who refused to return Indian activist James Pitawanakwat to Canada for violating parol. Canada wants him to complete a prison sentence for his conviction in connection with an armed standoff at Gustafsen Lake, British Columbia, between Indians and Canadian police and military. Judge Janice Stewart said Pitawanakwat qualified for a the political offense exception of the countries' extradition treaty, and dismissed Canada's argument that the 1995 standoff was a simple land dispute. ``The Gustafsen Lake incident involved indigenous people rising up in their own land against the government of that land,'' Stewart wrote, adding that the standoff did not qualify as an incident of civil war. The Justice Department in Ottawa said it only received the Nov. 15, decision on Wednesday and had not decided what to do. The ruling cannot be appealed, but Canada can refile its extradition request with the U.S. ``We're not sure where we are going to go with it at this point in time,'' a Justice Department spokesman said. Indians occupied a private ranch at Gustafsen Lake, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) northeast of Vancouver, claiming it as sacred ground. The standoff lasted more than two months and erupted into gunfire at least seven times.. Pitawanakwat was among 18 people arrested during the incident, which Stewart noted was one of several conflicts involving Indian activists in 1995 and ``was not an isolated violent incident.'' ``In a very fundamental way, the Gustafsen Lake incident is analogous to other separatist movements around the world, including the IRA in Ireland, the Tamils in Sri Lanka, the Basques in Spain, as well as various insurrections in Eastern Europe and Africa,'' Stewart wrote. Pitawanakwat was sentenced to three years in jail, but served only one before getting day parole. He fled to Oregon where he was arrested at Canada's request in July. University of Lethbridge professor Anthony Hall, who worked with Pitawanakwat's attorneys, said the ruling was important because it meant the issue of Indian rights in Canada now had to be viewed in ``an international context..'' The ruling does not mean that Pitawanakwat will automatically be allowed to remain in the United States. U.S. authorities may seek to deport him, based on his criminal conviction in Canada. Somos la misma familia, Doc ______________________________________________ FREE Personalized Email at Mail.com Sign up at http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup -------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~> eGroups eLerts It's Easy. It's Fun. Best of All, it's Free! http://click.egroups.com/1/9698/2/_/794163/_/975193339/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> To Post a message, send it to: announce-dan@eGroups.com To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: announce-dan-unsubscribe@eGroups.com
| Yahoo! Canada News | Top Stories |
Thursday November 23 7:36 PM
ET
U.S. Judge Refuses to Return Activist to
Canada
By Allan Dowd
VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Canada is reviewing a U.S. court ruling that likened the struggle for aboriginal rights in Canada to international separatists movements such as those in Northern Ireland, a Canadian official said on Thursday.
The ruling was handed down earlier this month by a U.S. federal judge in Portland, Oregon, who refused to return Indian activist James Pitawanakwat to Canada for violating parol.
Canada wants him to complete a prison sentence for his conviction in connection with an armed standoff at Gustafsen Lake, British Columbia, between Indians and Canadian police and military.
Judge Janice Stewart said Pitawanakwat qualified for a the political offense exception of the countries' extradition treaty, and dismissed Canada's argument that the 1995 standoff was a simple land dispute.
``The Gustafsen Lake incident involved indigenous people rising up in their own land against the government of that land,'' Stewart wrote, adding that the standoff did not qualify as an incident of civil war.
The Justice Department in Ottawa said it only received the Nov. 15, decision on Wednesday and had not decided what to do. The ruling cannot be appealed, but Canada can refile its extradition request with the U.S.
``We're not sure where we are going to go with it at this point in time,'' a Justice Department spokesman said.
Indians occupied a private ranch at Gustafsen Lake, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) northeast of Vancouver, claiming it as sacred ground. The standoff lasted more than two months and erupted into gunfire at least seven times.
Pitawanakwat was among 18 people arrested during the incident, which Stewart noted was one of several conflicts involving Indian activists in 1995 and ``was not an isolated violent incident.''
``In a very fundamental way, the Gustafsen Lake incident is analogous to other separatist movements around the world, including the IRA in Ireland, the Tamils in Sri Lanka, the Basques in Spain, as well as various insurrections in Eastern Europe and Africa,'' Stewart wrote.
Pitawanakwat was sentenced to three years in jail, but served only one before getting day parole. He fled to Oregon where he was arrested at Canada's request in July.
University of Lethbridge professor Anthony Hall, who worked with Pitawanakwat's attorneys, said the ruling was important because it meant the issue of Indian rights in Canada now had to be viewed in ``an international context.''
The ruling does not mean that Pitawanakwat will automatically be allowed to remain in the United States. U.S. authorities may seek to deport him, based on his criminal conviction in Canada.